Hi everyone!
Do you know this feeling? You walk
down the street on a sunny day, everything seems perfect and still you meet a
person who has always something to fuss about. Often I think that grumpiness
actually is what makes many people happy. So, the last time I was lying in the
sun, enjoying the good weather, I thought I should come up with a few tips that
help people to be unhappy more efficiently - or the sunshine might actually
kill their grumpiness.
To be most efficient, it is always the
best thing to grip a problem at its roots. In our case at the neurotransmitter
Serotonin that lets us to experiences the feeling of happiness. In order to
sabotage Serotonin most efficiently, we have to attack it a different levels:
1.) Keep Serotonin precursors from entering the body. 2.) Prevent that
Serotonin is produced. 3.) Prevent that Serotonin is released and can cause a
feeling of happiness
.
Keep Serotonin precursors from
entering the body
Serotonin is made from the amino acid tryptophan,
which is present in many foods, so tryptophan is hard to avoid. Hence, we have
to prevent that tryptophan is absorbed from the food and enters the body. In
order to do so, we can use the fact that tryptophan binds easily to fructose,
also called fruit sugar. When we eat large amounts of fructose, it cannot be
absorbed entirely and a lot will remain in our digestive system and will later
be exuded. Tryptophan that is bound to fructose will then be exuded as well. Unfortunately,
fruits and vegetables do not contain enough fructose to reach this effect.
Luckily the food industry comes to help here. The thing is that only average
crystal sugar needs to be declared with the word “sugar”. So, when you buy food
that is “reduced in sugar”, pretty often crystal sugar is only replaced by fructose.
This way it is possible to take in high amounts of fructose effortlessly which is
an efficient way to block the tryptophan intake. You only need to have lots of
foods that are “reduced in sugar”.
Prevent that Serotonin is produced
Of course it is not entirely possible
to keep tryptophan from entering the body. But we can stop tryptophan from
being turned into serotonin. In order to produce serotonin the enzyme tryptophan hydrolase 2 is necessary.
Luckily our body has built in a little obstacle for that enzyme because it needs
a co-factor as a helping hand. This co-factor is Vitamin D. Unfortunately our
body can produce vitamin D itself but only, if we spend enough time in the sun.
Again, modern society helps because it has invented computers, TV and phones.
This way we can avoid the sun without having to miss out on entertainment and
social contacts.
Prevent that Serotonin is released
I know, I know, we have done a lot
already to prevent the Serotonin production. But to be sure that no Serotonin
can get to its target place, we can prevent that it is released from the
synapse. In order to do so, there is one tiny mechanism that we can use. The body
needs omega-3-fatty acids to release Serotonin from the synapse. It is easy to
avoid omega-3-fatty acids. They are present in fatty fish like salmon or in
avocados, nuts or olive oil. Instead it is recommendable to eat as many
processed foods as possible. They contain big amounts of palm oil which will
not affect the Serotonin production too much. The smart consumer chooses
products that are “reduced in sugar”, so he kills two birds with one stone.
If you follow all advice, you should
stop experiencing a feels of happiness in the future. I will sum up once again:
Eat a lot of fructose in form of foods that are “reduced in sugar”, spent as
little time as possible in the sun, avoid omega-3-fatty acids and eats lots of
processed foods instead.
Extra Tip
In the unlikely case that some people actually
want to feel happier, they should try the opposite!
All the best!
Stefanie
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